African Forest Forum

Photo: Copyright @ AFF

Call for online regional facilitator:

Community of Practice on “enhancing the interest of youth and young professionals on forest and wildlife profession and education”

1.1 Background

Africa has an estimated 624 million ha of forest, 98.8 percent of which are natural forests[1] hosting a large number of wildlife population. Forests and wildlife are the lifeblood of Africa, particularly for over 60 percent of the population residing in rural areas but in recent years, the effects of climate change, deforestation, and poaching have devastated its rich biodiversity and the livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people[2],[3]. Additionally, the illegal trade in Africa’s natural resources deprives African States of revenues, hindering economic growth (AUC Wildlife Strategy).  These factors call for stakeholders to step up efforts to combat climate change, restore Africa’s forests of all types, including in its fragile drylands and islands, and safeguard its diverse biodiversity.

For sustainable natural resources management, engagement of all gender groups is a prerequisite. Particularly, the active engagement of youth in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies by the target date, and to averting the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration[4]. Africa has the youngest population in the world with more than 400 million young people aged between the ages of 15 to 35 years[5]. This young population is an asset in addressing environmental issues; however, there is need of adequate education, and to raise interest in related professions.

Many stakeholders (institutions and countries) have taken different initiatives to address the issues of youth and young professionals in forestry and wildlife education and profession[6] and have got different levels of achievements while also facing different difficulties / challenges.

In this regard, Communities of Practice (CoPs) can serve as an efficient and easily accessible way for peer-to-peer sharing of stakeholders/countries’ knowledge, experiences, expertise and lessons learned on past and ongoing interventions / initiatives to enhance the interest of youth and young professionals in forestry and wildlife education and profession.

1.2 Rationale and purpose of the work

In the context of the 2024 annual work plan of the AFF-FAO collaboration on “Support to the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC)”, AFF is recruiting one regional expert to moderate an online Community of Practice (CoP) on “Enhancing the interest of youth and young professionals on forest and wildlife profession and education.” The CoP will be hosted on a conducive Howspace platform and will involve both webinar series and web-based interactions. The online moderator is expected to encourage / engage and guide stakeholders to attend the webinar series and the web-based discussions and share their knowledge, experiences, best practices and challenges on addressing climate change in forestry and wildlife sector. At the end of each session, the moderator will synthesize views, lessons and recommendations to be posted on the CoP’s Howspace, easily accessible to all community members.

 The event will also provide a platform for sharing of knowledge products tailored to addressing climate change in African forestry and wildlife sector.

1.3 SCOPE OF WORK

The key tasks of this assignment are as follows:

  1. In collaboration with AFF, develop a concept note and elaborate a programme for the CoP, including topics for the online discussion forum;
  2. Promote the CoP, identify a wide range of stakeholders and start engaging them on the “Howspace” platform at least one week before the webinar sessions;
  3. Work with AFF Secretariat to tailor discussion topics in line with the thematic area of the CoP as well as the project outcomes.
  4. Identify and engage a broad range of stakeholders including relevant networks, individuals, and institutions with specific expertise and experiences on climate change in African forestry and wildlife sector, then invite them to participate to enrich the online discussion;
  5. Develop, in collaboration with AFF and selected resource persons, daily presentations on the selected topics to guide the online discussion;
  6. Actively guide the discussion to ensure it remains focused on the agenda, address all discussion questions and at the end of each session, draft and post a daily summary note.
  7. Daily tasks of the CoP’s moderator, to be done during the 2 to 3 hours daily webinar sessions starting from the 6th August 2024 for 2 weeks include:
    • Welcome participants to the virtual discussion;
    • Introduce the topic, prepare, and deliver presentations and/or facilitate their delivery by identified guest speakers and drive discussions to address any open/pending issues.
    • Provide encouragement/energizer to drive the discussion when no contributions have been posted, by posing/fielding questions, contacting members directly through the platform, posting complementary content such as documents, websites, and text.
  8. Propose and discuss with the CoP members plausible approaches and a strategy to sustain interactions on theplatform after the two-weeks’ webinar series
  9. Continue the moderation of the discussions among community’s members on the web based Howspace at least two weeks after the end of the webinar series guided by the proposed sustainability strategy.
  10. Document key issues raised, and actions proposed from the CoP members.

1.4 DELIVERABLES

This assignment aims to deliver the following:

  • Useful resources for the e-discussion uploaded and shared regularly.
  • Daily summaries of the e-discussions
  • A strategy and action plan to sustain interactions and peer-to-peer learning among the community after the webinar sessions.
  • Final report of the assignment to be submitted one week after the end of the COP sessions. The outline of the report will be agreed upon with AFF.

1.5 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

The online discussion moderators must have the following qualifications and skills:

  • At least a master’s degree in forestry, wildlife science / management, natural resource management or any related area, with experience in climate change, a PhD will be an added advantage.
  • At least five years’ working experience in sustainable forest / wildlife management in the context of climate change;
  • Proven experience in the issues youth and young professionals in forestry and wildlife education and profession; or in the issues of gender in natural resources management in general;
  • Proven skills and experience in writing technical reports and the like, on topics related to sustainable forest / wildlife management taking into account gender issues particularly youth participation;
  • Excellent communication skills in English. Knowledge of French is an added advantage.
  • Experience in moderating CoPs, multi-stakeholders’ engagement and participatory actions or events are desirable.

1.6 DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT

The work is expected to take one (1) calendar month, commencing on 23rd July 2024. The online regional facilitator will work from own location but be in close consultation with relevant staff at the AFF Secretariat while keeping to an agreed delivery schedule.

1.7 DEADLINES

  • Applications must be received by the AFF Secretariat on or before 10 June 2024.
  • Consultancy activities must begin no later than 23rd July 2024.

1.8 HOW TO APPLY

Please email your application to AFF, attaching: (a) A cover letter stating how you meet the above qualifications and experience requirements; (b) An updated CV (not more than 10 pages). Indicate the subject line: “Consultancy: Online regional facilitator for a Community of Practice on enhancing the interest of youth and young professionals on forest and wildlife profession and education” to  d.gitonga@cifor-icraf.org with a copy to d.dayamba@cifor-icraf.org and exec.sec@afforum.org. Only successful applicants will be contacted.

For more information, download:

 

[1] FAO. 2022. The State of the World’s Forests 2022. Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb9360en

[2] https://www.fao.org/africa/news/detail-news/en/c/1265434/

[3] https://www.iucn.org/story/202211/wildlife-changing-climate

[4] UN 2018. World Youth Report: Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UN, New York

[5] https://au.int/en/youth-development

[6] https://www.awf.org/news/african-youth-lead-future-biodiversity-conservation